Jury Gets First Welding Fumes Case

June 26, 2006

  • June 27, 2006 at 1:43 am
    Hugh Gotta B. Jokin says:
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    Imagine that – a guy gets paid to melt stuff right in his kisser and then he\’s got the nerve to say he actually breathed while he was working. And what do you get when you smash 3,800 of these guys and their \”lawyers\” into one courtroom? More screams for tort reform, and a smell of something more rotten than a welding rod.

  • June 28, 2006 at 11:06 am
    R. U. Jerkinoff says:
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    metal toxicity in the workplace is a growing concern. the manganese situation is still \”up in the air\” as far as relating exposure to neurological problems, but the evidence is mounting.
    i expect the lid to blow on \”hexavalent chromium\” exposures; this is produced whenever stainless steel is welded. OSHA this spring lowered the permissible exposure level by a factor of 10 this spring, but wanted to lower it by a factor of 100. it causes lung cancer, and can cause some serious dermal problems…. relating the disease to the workplace exposure will be a problem for plantiff attorneys, but for those insurers with E.L. exposure, the duty to defend may well exceed the death benefits (i.e. the employer \”should have known\” it was dangerous)

  • June 28, 2006 at 11:47 am
    Dewey Cheatum says:
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    If this suit is sucessful against the rod manufacturers, the comp insurer will benefit from the \”right of first recovery\” if the claim is compensable; EL might get involved whether it is or isn\’t

  • June 28, 2006 at 2:38 am
    hindsight says:
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    Cases like this are bogus. How in the hell is the employer/manufacturer to know that these fumes will be found to be toxic umpteen years down the road? When they produced the rods, they were safe as science allowed & was required by govt agencies. We can\’t even say with 100% now that these fumes cause neurological problems but we want to blame the companies for making and using them years ago when no one knew better? This isn\’t smokers smoking long after they started putting the surgeon generals warning on every pack.



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